A newly hatched cricket is greeted with a welcoming chirp from a bigger cricket. But when he cannot respond, the young cricket visits other insects and listens to their sounds. Eventually, he finds his own voice in a chirp that readers hear at the end of the book. While amusing to the ears, the lush illustrations and pleasing text are a feast for the eyes.
The Very Quiet Cricket
Young readers are invited to look and listen as they join a girl on a summer morning walk to the beach. While she passes through the woods, a marsh, and the dunes, she stops to observe, and sometimes wonders what animals are watching her. A foldout reveals animals, birds, insects, and plants in each of the coastal settings, and are carefully listed on the final page.
On the Way to the Beach
While growing up, Rebecca Estelle ate so much pumpkin in so many ways she grew to hate them. When she buried the pumpkin that accidentally fell into her yard to be rid of it, the humorous results benefited the entire community in many ways. Lighthearted illustrations add comic detail.
Too Many Pumpkins
A child follows animal tracks in the snow, wondering aloud “Who made the tracks?/Where do they go?” Gentle illustrations depict the child’s walk across a snowy landscape while animals watch from afar. Only upon returning home is it revealed that the tracks were made yesterday when the child was “Out playing in the snow!”
Tracks in the Snow
Every spring, butterflies emerge and dazzle the world with their vibrant beauty. But where do butterflies come from? How are they born? What do they eat — and how? With a simple, rhyming text and glorious color-drenched collage, Lois Ehlert provides clear answers to these and other questions as she follows the life cycle of four common butterflies. Complete with flower facts and identification tips, as well as a guide to planting a butterfly garden, this butterfly book is like no other.
Waiting for Wings
When Zigby the Zebra receives a tent from his aunt Zandra, he and his friends decide to camp out in the deepest, darkest part of the jungle. When they’re frightened, cold, and hungry, they gladly accept Ella the Elephant’s offer to come home and have dinner. Zigby then finishes his campout in the safety of his own backyard. Bold color and strong line add humor to this recognizable story.
Zigby Camps Out
What has six legs, is very strong, always busy, and probably lives in your neighborhood? The ant, of course! Find out more about this small insect, then try your hand at some ant-related projects. Clear photographs and readable text in this attractive book will start your ant-venture. (For an ant’s eye view of the insect world in photographs, take a look at In Front of the Ant: Walking with Beetles and Other Insects by Ryuichi Kuwahara).
Ants (A Denver Museum of Nature & Science Book)
Readers learn of Mexican migrant workers’ difficult lives in this photo-documentary. Despite backbreaking labor in poor conditions, the workers take pride in what they do and struggle to help their families get ahead.
Harvest
A father and daughter go out “owling” on a cold, snow-filled evening with only moonlight to guide them. An introduction by the author to this edition opens the now-classic, luminously illustrated story in which hope “…flies on silent wings under a shining Owl Moon.”
Owl Moon
Summer has finally arrived to the young narrator’s island home. With it come four different artists who the boy – an artist himself – observes carefully as he tries to paint the wind. Newbery medalist Patricia MacLachlan and her daughter team up to explore creativity in an unusual but understandable way.
Painting the Wind
Take a tour through four national aquariums and learn how they are set up, the educational displays they offer, and what sort of things a visitor will see.
The Aquarium Book
A girl and her grandfather make a butterfly house that provides shelter for Painted Ladies even after the girl grows up. The cyclical nature of life is gently portrayed in handsome paintings and lyrical language.
The Butterfly House
The real and truly amazing size of animals from the sea and land are shown in a way that children can understand and appreciate. Textured collage illustrations are used to show the actual size of a gorilla’s hand, a giant squid’s eye and much more. Additional information on each animal is included in an afterward to allow reading on several levels.
Actual Size
Travel with Canadian naturalist Brian Keating on a journey around the world to meet some of the animal inhabitants of the different continents. From kookaburras and kangaroos in Australia to the Arctic’s wolf population, this book’s informal, diary-like approach creates an exciting armchair expedition with photographs, facts, and more.
Amazing Animal Adventures Around the World
The year Grace turned eight, her Mum and Dad took her and her siblings on a trip around Australia. The kids “missed school for the whole winter term” and Grace documented much of what she learned, where she went, and the adventures they had as they experienced the diversity of the continent. Grace’s informal voice is informative yet engaging, completed by line drawings and simple maps.
Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia
When Ben visits his grandma, they love to bake together. But to make their special cookies, they need a cow, a thousand bees, and much more. Grandma’s lyrical explanations of the ingredients result in the tasty joy of a “warm, yummy honey cookie”! Colorful, well-paced, child-like illustrations are as engaging as the interaction between Ben and Grandma. Their recipe is included so you and your child (or grandchild) can try the cookies yourselves.
Honey Cookies
Lily’s mother has travelled all over he world, and has planted a magical garden for her daughter, full of exotic and beautiful flowers. In her first adventure, Lily visits the Indian garden where the plants and flowers take turns to tell stories of their homeland.
Lily’s Garden of India
It’s not easy for duck parents to find a safe place to bring up their ducklings, but during a rest stop in Boston’s Public Garden, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard think they just might have found the perfect spot.
Make Way For Ducklings
The creator of this book visited the Inagua National Park in the Bahamas to tell a dramatic story of how the elegant pink flamingos live, thrive, and even survive a hurricane on their protected island home. Dramatic paintings and a vibrant narrative will inform and inspire young readers.
Mud City: A Flamingo Story
A small mouse named Poppy overcomes a stronger adversary – an owl named Ocax – through determination and inner strength in this first installment of the popular Tales from Dimwood Forest series.
Poppy
Share the sights, sounds, smells, and humor of a family camping trip through this collection of engaging poems illustrated with vivid paintings. From setting up the tent to the ultimate return home, campers and non-campers alike will enjoy this vacation and all its outdoor pleasures.
Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems
Going to visit a big city on vacation? Think there’s nothing but concrete above and below? Well, think again! Readers are greeted by bagel-eating Skippy, an Eastern Gray Squirrel, and begin a complex, unexpected, revealing, and animated jaunt through and around New York City. The Big Apple comes alive in sophisticated, surprising ways through cartoons and photographs creatively placed on double page spreads.
Go Wild in New York City
The cumulative tale of a child’s lost mitten — but found to become home to a host of animals — is told in straightforward language and intricate, bordered illustrations. Now 20 years old, Brett’s interpretation of a Ukrainian folktale will be enjoyed anew.